Stars
by TheRangress
Summary: Offices were absolutely off-limits, but Jack thought a rooftop under the stars was the next-best thing.


Jack Harkness was a hopeless romantic. He also had a thing for roofs.

Not that Ianto particularly minded, either the hopeless romance or the roof. It wasn't too cold a night; there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Jack had brought a blanket, and it was nice to just lie there for once. No aliens to fight, no coffee to make, none of the vague uneasiness that came with more traditional 'dates', just the night sky and a tight grip on Jack's hand.

"How many have you been to, then?"

Jack smiled and pointed. "Oh, a few planets orbiting that one, that one, and that one... Wait a couple years and make friends with some astronomers for that one. They'll detect a fluctuation in the star's emissions... and that'll be me."

"I see." Ianto smiled a bit as Jack's hand moved to his head, thumb gently ruffling through his hair. He pressed it closer to Jack's shoulder, and could feel as he tensed and relaxed.

"And orbiting that star right there is a planet. About five hundred years ago, a couple asteroids crashed into it, and in three thousand years somebody'll name a place in one of the craters they left the Boeshane Peninsula. And that's where I'm from."

"Boeshane." Ianto smiled at the name. Jack didn't trust many people with his past, after all.

"Boe for short."

"How far is it, then?"

"About five thousand light-years."

"So you grew up with light that shone on Jesus?"

Jack laughed. "Holy light?"

"Holy light."

For a while, they didn't talk. "It's odd," Ianto finally ventured, "We fight aliens all day, and at night... the sky's still there, just the same as it always was."

"I've never quite gotten used to the Earth sky." Jack traced a constellation.

"Alien." Ianto leaned over and kissed Jack.

"It's getting late. Should I take you home?" Jack asked, hand on Ianto's cheek.

"Nobody's waiting up for me." Ianto softly pressed his forehead against Jack's. "Don't worry, Jack."

They traced constellations tangled on top of each other; Ianto knew more.

"Is there anything you don't know?" Jack asked in a mock huff.

"What I'd do without you." Jack had expected an flippant answer, and Ianto had too, but somehow that had been the first thing to come to mind.

"I..." Ianto could feel every muscle in Jack's body tense. Then, slowly, he relaxed, shifting so his head was on Ianto's chest. "Likewise, Ianto Jones."

"I... I shouldn't have said that. I was tired. I'm sorry, sir." That was one of the unspoken rules of their relationship, whatever the hell it was— they didn't say anything about the emotions involved, just did things together and for each other.

"Don't apologize." Ianto could tell that Jack was listening to his heart beat. "It's... it's good to know."

It was. It really was good to know. Because even with their little joke that Ianto knew everything, there was so much he didn't. Not his own heart; not Jack's. But he knew this. He knew that he _meant _something to Jack. And that meant a lot. It meant _everything_.

"You know, it really is late," Jack started, pulling away a bit.

Ianto pulled him back in again. "I'm not tired."

They talked a bit more, about how neither of them thought the moon even _looked _like a man.

"Bear," said Ianto.

"What?"

"There is a bear. Look."

"No, don't see it."

Ianto sighed. "Nobody ever sees the bear. I feel like I'm hallucinating it."

"It just looks like a moon."

Ianto turned over to look at Jack. "What does the Boeshane moon look like?"

"Hasn't got one." Jack smiled. "Every so often, I mistake it for a spaceship."

"That I'd like to see."

"Hey, how would you react if you had to get used to a whole new big white _thing _in the sky?"

"You're scared of the _moon_."

"You hallucinate bears."

Ianto poked Jack in the chin. "Now you're just hitting below the belt."

"I know what's below your belt, and it's not bears." Jack poked Ianto right back.

There was a cold breeze, and with a shiver Ianto realized he was cold. "Maybe we should go home..."

"Oh, you're not getting away from me that easy." Jack pulled off his coat and tucked it over Ianto.

"Jack." Ianto sat up, but Jack pushed him back down.

"I'm immortal. I don't get cold." Ianto wasn't sure whether it was true or not, but he was too tired and cold to argue. He sighed and lay on the blanket, Jack warm against him.

There were a few more whispered comments ("You have very pointy elbows", "You're sure we shouldn't go home", "I see the bear now"), but mostly they just silently fell asleep on the rooftop.


End file.
